About Everything: April 2009

Thursday, April 30, 2009

watch supernatural season 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 online

Supernatural - Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester

Supernatural stars Jensen Ackles (left) and Jared Padalecki (right) as Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester, two brothers who travel the country looking for their missing father, John Winchester and battling evil spirits along the way. Sam Winchester is a college student bound for law school, determined to escape his family's past - unlike his older brother, Dean.

Ever since they were little their father has been consumed with an obsession to find the evil forces that murdered his beloved wife, and recruited his two young sons to help them. They have grown up as hunters of the supernatural. Sam escaped this way of life after high school, and now has a happy life with his girlfriend, Jessica, and a promising future career. Dean, however, stayed behind with his father to join him in his "hunting". — TV.com

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Record HD-quality Screencast Videos with Screencast-o-Matic

Screencast-o-Matic, the first web based screencasting app, has added some new features and revamped the screen recording interface to catch up with nearest rival - ScreenToaster.

screencasts in hd

You can now record full HD quality screencasts videos (1280×720) in your browser without even creating an account at Screencast-o-matic.

You may then save the recorded movie to your desktop in Quicktime (MP4) format or directly upload the screencast to your YouTube account where it will be encoded as HD for sure - see example:

The screen capture quality is brilliant and Screen-o-matic also adds some visual hints to the screencast - the cursor size is increased and mouse clicks get highlighted with a circle - thus making it easier for people to follow the mouse in the final movie.

Screencast-o-matic, like other online screencasting apps, is a Java applet and can therefore be used on Windows, Mac or Linux machines.

Intel sees green chips of recovery

Intel, which believes in investing during a downturn to the tune of spending $7bn on new manufacturing facilities over the next two years, is trying to persuade its customers to think the same way.

It released a survey and statistics on Tuesday that suggested investing in upgrading three or four-year-old computers will quickly pay for itself.

The study, carried out by consultants Wipro involving 106 US and European companies, said that two-thirds of them were continuing to upgrade their computers during the recession.

Their reasons were that new PCs were more secure and cheaper to run, to the extent that they paid for themselves with energy and other savings in a matter of months - as low as 10 months for those using Intel’s vPro technology.

“Yes, it’s tough economic times but those IT departments who can, are continuing to refresh because they are worried about security, and newer PCs can reduce their operational costs,” Rob Crooke, head of Intel’s Business Client Group, told a press briefing.

Mr Crooke avoided comment on whether many businesses were awaiting Windows 7, Microsoft’s next operating system, before upgrading. He speculated that the one-third that were not upgrading as usual either “had no cash, or the industry, including ourselves, had not had the chance to explain to them the benefits.”

Figures released by Mercury Reseach on Monday night, on microprocessors sold in the first quarter, suggested conditions were bottoming out for Intel and its rival AMD.

Units declined 8.3 per cent on the fourth quarter and 9.1 per cent compared to a year ago, but this compared to an 18 per cent sequential decline in the fourth quarter.

Intel lost nearly 4 percentage points of market share to AMD - down to 78.2 per cent from 82.1 per cent in Q4, as enterprise spending was weak and AMD performed better in the consumer PC segment.

Notebook sales were also weak and units of Intel’s Atom processor, which has powered the netbook category, were down 33 per cent from the fourth quarter, at 5.6m units.

Architecture Student Proposes Bacterially-Grown Wall Across the Entire Sahara Desert

To combat the Sahara Desert's ongoing growth, student Magnus Larsson has proposed a 6,000km wall that will be—wait for it—constructed by letting a bacterium have its way with the sand, forming sandstone.

The bacterium, bacillus pasteurii, turns sand into firm sandstone structures very quickly, and the proposed wall could house a sort of lengthy oasis of water and vegetation, to be used by refugees for housing. It's trying to kill two enormous birds with an equally enormous stone: Combating desertification and providing mass amounts of housing for those who need it. The proposal won a prize for sustainable agriculture, but nothing this outrageous is without its problems.

This kind of bacterial change has been performed in very small environments, but has never been tried in as large a scale as the Sahara Desert. Besides the practicality of the project, there are also environmental concerns: This massive a change to the ecosystem could cause problems we can't even foresee, from species extinctions to water shortages. Not to mention a problem that wasn't brought up in the article: How do we get this thing to stop making sandstone? I'm pretty sure experiments with ice-nine didn't turn out so hot.

But for sheer ballsiness on a grandiose scale, this idea is hard to top. Check out more photos and mockups here.

Darwin's Radio: Prehistoric Gene Reawakens to Battle HIV

'The next great war will start inside us. 'In the next stage of evolution, mankind is history'.

Greg Bear, Darwin's Radio

About 95% of the human genome has once been designated as "junk" DNA. While much of this sequence may be an evolutionary artifact that serves no present-day purpose, some junk DNA may function in ways that are not currently understood. The conservation of some junk DNA over many millions of years of evolution may imply an essential function that has been "turned off." Now scientists say there's a junk gene that fights HIV. And they've discovered how to turn it back on.

What these scientists have done could give us the first bulletproof HIV vaccine. They have re-awakened the human genome's latent potential to make us all into HIV-resistant creatures, and hey've published their ground-breaking research in PLoS Biology.

A group of scientists led by Nitya Venkataraman and Alexander Colewhether wanted to try a new approach to fighting HIV - one that worked with the body's own immune system. They knew Old World monkeys had a built-in immunity to HIV: a protein called retrocyclin, which can prevent HIV from entering cell walls and starting an infection. So they began poring over the human genome, looking to see if humans had a latent gene that could manufacture retrocyclin too. It turned out that we did, but a "nonsense mutation" in the gene had turned it off at some point in our evolutionary history.

Nonsense mutations are caused when random DNA code shows up in the middle of a gene, preventing it from beginning the process of manufacturing proteins in the cell. Venkataraman and her team decided to investigate this gene further, doing a series of tests to see if the retrocyclin it produced would keep HIV out of human cells. It did.

At last, they knew that if they could just figure out a way to reawaken the "junk" gene that creates retrocyclin in humans, they might be able to stop HIV infections. The researchers just needed to figure out a way to remove that nonsense mutation and get the target gene to start manufacturing retrocyclin again.

Here's where things really get interesting. The team found a way to use a compound called aminoglycosides, which itself can cause errors when RNA transcribes information from DNA to make proteins. But this time, the aminoglycoside error would work in their favor: It would cause that RNA to ignore the nonsense mutation in the junk gene, and therefore start making retrocyclin again. In preliminary tests, their scheme worked. The human cells made retrocyclin, fended off HIV, and effectively became AIDS-resistant. And it was done entirely using the latent potential in the so-called junk DNA of the human genome.

After more research is done, the researchers believe this might become a viable way to make humans immune to HIV infection.

What intrigues me, beyond the amazing idea of an AIDS vaccine, is that aminoglycosides have the potential to unlock the uses for other pieces of junk DNA. In Darwin's Radio, certain portions of these "non-sense" sequences, remnants of prehistoric retroviruses, have been activated by aminoglycosides
In the novel, humans start rapidly evolving after their junk DNA re-awakens in response to stress. Could we induce instant mutations, or gain other new immunities by using aminoglycosides on our junk DNA?

Download Microsoft Office 2007 SP2 - Outlook Gets a Performance Boost

Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Office 2007 significantly improves the performance of Microsoft Outlook and also adds support for OpenDocument format in Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2007.

With SP2 installed, your Microsoft Office 2007 programs can read & write documents in the ODF format without requiring external plug-ins. The service pack also adds the Save as PDF functionality by default to all programs that are part of the Office 2007 suite.

Here’s a complete list of changes and issues that have been fixed through Service Pack 2 (SP2) of Office 2007. It’s a major upgrade (with 600+ fixes) and Jane Liles says that Outlook 2007 with SP2 is 26 percent faster on a set of common e-mail tasks and users will experience considerable speed improvements on common Outlook operations like launching, synchronizing and searching.

Download Microsoft Office 2007 SP2

installing office 2007 sp2

Office 2007 SP2 is available for download through Windows Update or you can follow the direct link to the SP2 installer on the Microsoft Download Center. The file name is office2007sp2-kb953195-fullfile-en-us.exe and it’s around 290 MB in size. You may also order a slipstream copy of Office 2007 SP2 on a DVD here.

This release will also update stand-alone viewers for Excel, PowerPoint and Word 2007 so even if you are using an older version of Office, you may still want to checkout this update.

Outlook 2007 also includes fixes related to slow IMAP access so that may be good news for users who check their Gmail emails on Outlook via IMAP. For POP access, Outlook now downloads the newest mail first instead of the oldest mail. SP2 also fixes a number of issues related to RSS feeds in Outlook 2007.

Fastest Camera Ever Built Uses Lasers

steam_481 Scientists have made the fastest camera ever. It can take 6.1 million pictures in a single second, at a shutter speed of 440 trillionths of a second. Light itself moves just a fraction of a centimeter in that time.

The camera works by illuminating objects with a laser that emits a different infrared frequency for every single pixel, allowing them to custom-amplify a signal that would otherwise be too dim to see.

“We have invented a new type of imaging technology that overcomes the fundamental limitation between sensitivity and speed,” said Keisuke Goda, an optoelectronic specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s the world’s fastest camera.”

High shutter speeds enable moving objects to be clearly photographed. The less time a camera’s optical eye is open, the less time a subject has to move. But this comes at a price: less light enters the camera, causing the image to be underexposed. That’s why sports photographers use high-powered strobe lights.

Workarounds include the use of extra-sensitive chemicals in traditional films, or amplification of signals captured by the photoelectronic light sensors of digital cameras. But film is relatively limited in its range, as are digital cameras. At the speed of Godas camera, there isn’t enough light to magnify.

“The camera has a built-in optical image amplifier that overcomes the tradeoff between sensitivity and speed,” he said. “It could be especially useful for microscopy. On the meta-microscale, even slow-moving objects require a high temporary resolution, because your field of view is so small.”

steam_772 The technology is dubbed STEAM, short for serial time-encoded amplified microscopy. It illuminates objects with an infrared laser that cycles through a series of different wavelengths, one for each pixel on the sensor.

When reflected light hits the camera’s sensor, each pixel picks up its dedicated wavelength, and is given an electronic boost of a matching wavelength. That amplifies the original dim signal, composed of just a few photons, until it becomes visible. This can’t be done in a conventional digital camera, because the sensor doesn’t know what the original wavelengths were.

For now, STEAM can only produce images composed of just 3,000 pixels, a far cry from the multi-million-pixel cameras used by consumers. But Goda’s team intends to develop a multi-megapixel camera that can take 100 million pictures per second, with a frame rate of they’re hoping to up this to mega-multipixel mode competitive with standard digital camers, taking 100 million pictures per second, with a shutter speed of just one-trillionth of a second.

Apple plots course for middle of mobile

Apple seems almost ready to bridge the gap between the iPhone and the Macbook with a new type of mobile computer.

(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET)

Is the world finally ready for the mobile minitablet?

It's become quite clear over the last several months that Apple is ready to bridge the mobile computing gap, with plans to develop a device that fits somewhere in between the iPhone and the MacBook. A recent Wall Street Journal article proclaimed that during his medical leave, CEO Steve Jobs has been working on that midsized mobile device, bigger than an iPhone but smaller than a MacBook.

And just this week, BusinessWeek reported that Apple is developing a "media pad" that would let users watch videos on a larger screen than an iPod Touch or Amazon Kindle, but on a device that's more portable than notebooks and lacks a keyboard.

The personal computer industry has long tried to make such a device a reality, but apart from some early success for the Kindle, no one has managed to convince the public that the attempts released to date--such as the Ultra Mobile PC--are worth buying. Instead, PC companies looking for increased mobility are finding ways to shrink the notebook PC as opposed to a finding a new way to use computers.

As far back as 2000, Microsoft founder Bill Gates was evangelizing Tablet PCs, but a combination of price and uninspired software doomed that category to niche status. Intel and Microsoft then turned the hype machine to the UMPC (later rebranded MID, or Mobile Internet Device), which several years later aren't exactly flying off store shelves.

More recently, PC companies have embraced Netbooks, small inexpensive mininotebook computers that are designed for basic Web surfing and e-mail. Netbooks, however, are further depressing the PC industry's gross margins and attempt to cram a full-fledged notebook user interface into a small package, and it doesn't seem that Apple is all that crazy about this category.

But Apple has developed a few unique ideas for mobile computing over the past two years that have resonated with designers, developers and users; namely, the iPhone OS and the App Store. So, is the timing finally right for the tweener computer?

BusinessWeek reported that the iPad (name stolen from Silicon Alley Insider for its brevity) would be about the size of the Amazon Kindle, but with a screen that covers a greater portion of the surface. The Kindle is 7.5-inches long, but the screen is just 6 inches; by comparison, the iPhone sports a 3.5-inch display, while the smallest MacBook uses a 13.3-inch display.

Previous attempts at making keyboard-less devices with 7-inch or 8-inch screens--such as UMPCs and MIDs--haven't captured the public's imagination. Microsoft and Intel had high hopes for the concept in 2006, which was also known as Project Origami inside Microsoft. Samsung made perhaps the best-received UMPC, but that wasn't saying much, and interest in the category quickly faded after the launch of the iPhone.

The main issue with UMPCs was a lack of compelling software. They were designed to run Windows XP, which itself wasn't designed to run on a device with such a small screen and limited methods of input. And at launch, Windows Vista was actually a step backward in terms of its suitability for mobile devices.

Samsung's Q1 was perhaps one of the best UMPCs/MIDs, but it never amounted to much in the market.

(Credit: CNET)

Intel tried to shift MIDs to Linux to get around the resource problems of Windows Vista, but its partners have yet to gain any traction. And neither attempt was able to galvanize third-party developers into creating applications designed specifically for a mobile platform.

Apple's iPhone OS, however, was designed for a small-screen mobile environment. Installing the iPhone OS 3.0 on the iPad would allow Apple to preserve the user interface from the iPhone and iPod Touch and keep the device simple: a more complicated (and power-hungry) operating system isn't needed for a computer like this.

This would also allow Apple to take advantage of the App Store, giving the iPad thousands of applications at its disposal right from launch. One potential problem with that approach is that developers will have to rewrite their iPhone applications to adapt to the larger-size screen on this new device, said Craig Hockenberry of Iconfactory, creators of Twitterific.

Hockenberry, who is very confident that Apple has such a device in the works, doesn't think this will be a huge obstacle, but developers will have to gauge whether the extra development effort is worth their time. One thing Apple could do is set aside a separate section of the App Store for iPad-optimized applications, while finding a way to run older iPhone applications in some sort of compatibility mode.

"It wouldn't be hard for Apple to have a "Classic" environment on a tablet that provided a 320x480 window for running one or more iPhone applications," Hockenberry said in an e-mail. "It would be a smart thing for them to do: there are instantly tens of thousands of apps and users are presented with a familiar interface (something that looks a lot like Dashboard in Mac OS X.)"

The iPad could also be the first Apple product to surface with a chip designed by P.A. Semi, which Apple didn't buy on a lark. A custom chip could solve two problems for Apple--the need to keep software compatibility with the ARM-based chips used to run the iPhone while delivering more performance for HD video playback or more robust games that competitors might not be able to immediately match.

What might such a device cost? There are two schools of thought on price.

UMPCs, at around $700, were considered too expensive but because they didn't offer any value, not because of the sticker price itself. It would not be hard for Apple to argue that an iPad with an HD screen, thousands of applications, and a superior mobile browser is worth just slightly more than what people were willing to pay for the original iPhone.

A $699 iPad would slot nicely between the iPod Touch and MacBook in Apple's product lineup and preserve Apple's profit margins, while allowing the company to reduce the price over time if needed similar to the original iPhone.

But Apple could also hook up with a wireless carrier--we'll save the AT&T versus Verizon debate for another day--to subsidize the iPad. The company has reportedly been in talks about distributing MacBooks through wireless carrier friends like AT&T, which already sells 3G-equipped Netbooks with a data plan subscription.

A device such as this would be infinitely more attractive with wide-area wireless networking, as opposed to just Wi-Fi--especially if carrier subsidies bring the price down to around $499, just above the largest iPod Touch. It's hard to see something this big replacing a mobile phone--you're not going to hold one of these up to the side of your head--but there are certainly plenty of headsets available in the world.

This is the last frontier of the promised convergence between computers and communication devices: the midsized device. That shift has already happened to the smartphone, but it seems very reasonable that for many people, smartphone screens are too small for serious computing.

If Apple is indeed working on such a product, it will have to get the implementation right to avoid duplicating the failures of so many other mobile computing aspirants. But by having awakened the public to the promise of basic mobile computing, Apple could be best positioned to capitalize on the need for something more.

Apple is building a moat (of semiconductors)

Apple is collecting chip gurus. The big question is why.

The Wall Street Journal delivers a nice roundup of Apple’s recent hires: Raja Koduri, former CTO of AMD’s graphics group, and Bob Drebin, another AMD alum. And let’s not forget former IBMer Mark Papermaster. Papermaster, who leads Apple’s iPhone and iPod unit now, was the subject of a non-compete tug-of-war. Papermaster is a microchip expert—not that he’d ever pass Drebin or Kodui in the hall to talk shop or anything crazy like that.

Toss in Apple’s acquisition of P.A. Semi and the company is looking downright chipper.

The Journal writes:

Besides a desire to beat rivals to market with new features, Apple’s shift is also an effort to share fewer details about its technology plans with external chip suppliers, say people familiar with the moves.

In other words, Apple is building a moat around its iPhone and iPod businesses. Apple can expand into chips, be extremely focused and provide a leapfrog advance. New chip capabilities make their way into Apple products (rest assured it won’t share) and the company gets to play defense.

Mobile advances have a way of winding up in every mobile device eventually. If Apple’s chips can integrate with its software to deliver distinguishing results it can distance itself from the pack.

It’s unclear whether Apple’s chip fetish will work, but on paper the idea makes a lot of sense.

How to get a high-resolution image from a low-resolution camera

My last post discussed how you can make ultra-high-resolution images with a simple point-and-shoot by using GigaPan robotic camera mounts. But for most folks, plunking down three or four hundred bucks on hardware for the novelty of high-res panoramic shots is out of the question. With some patience (and a steady hand) though, you can achieve similar effects with off-the-shelf photo stitching software.

There are a number of options available, ranging from the Photomerge feature in Adobe Photoshop CS4 to free sofware like Autostitch, recommended by a commenter on my last post. But i2k Quickage, a new option announced yesterday caught my eye because it promises to let you create high-res images from any camera, including camera phones–and claims that it’s been used by NASA to stitch images of the space shuttle into one large montage for analysis.

Created by a company that also develops sophisticated medical software (such as retinal imaging tools) i2k Quickage is compatible with any cell phone equipped with a camera (including the iPhone and Blackberry). The company’s website includes an interesting (though undoubtedly biased) comparison chart of competitive stitching software. Don’t miss the full analysis link for detailed information. Three versions (Quickage Express, Quickage Pro, and Quickage Enterprise) start at $49.95, but you can get a free trial of Quickage Express and Quickage Pro (for Windows or Mac) that’s fully functional for seven days.

Canon PowerShot SX1 IS

CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
Detailed editors' rating

Average user rating: Write your own review
See all user reviews

Product summary

The good: Relatively fast; good HD video; raw file support.

The bad: Big; quirky interface; some image artifacts.

The bottom line: A top megazoom option, the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS offers a 20x zoom lens and HD video, which you can't get in a similarly priced dSLR, and delivers more features and slightly better performance and photo quality than the cheaper SX10 IS.

Specifications: Digital camera type: Full body ; Resolution: 10 megapixels ; Optical zoom: 20 x ; See full specs

Price range: $599.00 - $599.99 check prices

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by:
Lori Grunin
Reviewed on: 04/27/2009
Released on: 03/15/2009

Photos:
Canon PowerShot SX1 IS

Would you pay as much for a megazoom as you would for a dSLR? That's the question you need to answer before plunking down the same amount of cash for the Canon PowerShot SX1 that you would for the EOS Rebel XS or the Nikon D60 with their 18-55mm lenses. Packing some higher-end features over its brother the SX10 IS, including a CMOS sensor (albeit the same 1/2.3-inch size and 10-megapixel resolution), 30fps 1080p HD movie capture, and support for raw files, the SX1 delivers slightly better performance and image quality as well.

Physically, it's almost identical to the SX10, including the same 20x 28-260mm equivalent lens. It's equally comfortable to hold and shoot, retaining perks like the articulated LCD and four AA-powered operation. It's a little heavier, 1.5 pounds, which makes it feel like a dSLR, but the big grip gives you plenty of holding room. A button to jump into review mode sits near the indented thumb rest on the back, joined by the exposure compensation and focus area selection buttons. Because the SX1's body is matte black plastic, rather than the reflective graphite of the SX10, the light blue labels are easier to see.

On the right side of the back is a dial concentric to a four-way navigation switch with the function button in the middle. Although I generally like the controls, the dial feels too mushy; like the SX10's, it doesn't respond appropriately, as if it needs to spin too far or not as far for any given operation. As a result, for example, I frequently overshot desired shutter speeds. It really feels like it needs better tactile feedback. The zoom switch didn't feel terribly exact, either. This is a typical problem with stepped zooms (these lenses don't really cover a continuous zoom range, instead stopping at a series of preset distances).

Of course, the flip-and-twistable LCD remains a user favorite, and the SX1's is a wide-aspect 2.8-inch model compared with the 4:3 aspect 2.5-incher on the SX10. Keep in mind that when you're shooting photos at full resolution in 4:3 aspect, the effective image size of the LCD is as if it were a 2.5-inch model. Canon does use the extra area on the sides for displaying some information. Unfortunately, the electronic viewfinder isn't particularly great. It updates slowly and looks pretty coarse.

More annoyingly, the camera lacks a dedicated toggle between the LCD and EVF. Instead, you have to cycle through the four different display settings: low-info LCD, detailed LCD, low-info EVF, detailed EVF. That makes it nearly impossible to quickly jump back and forth. Similarly, though there's a dedicated movie record button, moving between capturing HD movies and standard 4:3 stills can get confusing. You have to press a button to toggle between the two aspect ratio modes, and the camera captures in whatever your indicated settings are for that aspect ratio: press button for 16:9, start movie record, stop movie record, press aspect button, press shutter for photos. It sounds simple, but I frequently forgot to toggle the aspect ratio back after shooting a movie, and ended up shooting lower-resolution, wide-aspect stills. And raw isn't available in 16:9 mode, which can complicate mistakes like that. You should be able to set a movie size and only have to worry about pressing record. A final annoyance: it remembers all your settings when you power off except the current metering mode. None of these seriously detract from the overall usability of the camera, but forgetful shooters (like me) or infrequent ones might find themselves having a few more settings accidents than they'd like.

Though a movie mode remains on the dial, it's become rather superfluous; in addition to the dedicated button, Canon integrated the movie resolution settings into the function menu along with the standard white balance, color adjustment, exposure bracketing, flash compensation, metering, and still size and quality controls.

Some of the more novel features include a Face Self-timer, which shoots a specified number of seconds after a face is detected, and a custom timer, which lets you also specify the number of shots to take (sort of a limited intervalometer, since you can only take up to 10 shots). As with the SX10, this camera introduces Canon's Servo AF, the company's AF tracking mode. With this camera, since the continuous shooting is so slow, I find the Servo AF has too much time to get confused, and since EVFs black out when a shot's taken you can't verify that it's focusing on the right thing; I have lots of in-focus fences and out of focus people in my test shots. (And lest you suggest I should have used the Face Detect AF, that doesn't work unless you're shooting faces looking at you, not moving crowd shots.) I find the Servo AF less than useful since EVFs black out when a shot's taken so you can't verify that it's focusing on the right thing. The rest of the capabilities, for the most part, are the same as the competition. These include PASM, full auto, and a handful of scene modes; my favorites are a custom setting slot on the mode dial and 3.9-inch macro and zero(!)-inch Super Macro modes. (Need more details about the standard feature set? Check out the PDF manual.)

Overall, the SX1 delivers excellent performance, especially for a category notable for sluggish products. It wakes and shoots in 1.4 seconds, and under optimal focusing circumstances can lock and shoot in 0.4 second. Even under harder to focus, low-contrast conditions it takes only 0.6 second. Shot to shot JPEGs typically take 2.8 seconds, and raw is even faster at 2 seconds. While its 2.9 frames-per-second burst can't beat the ultra-high-speed continuous shooting of models like the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 or the Casio Exilim EX-FH20, it's still very good for its class. And it can burst raw at about 1.5fps. My only caveat about the camera's performance is from a repeated, but unfortunately not repeatable, problem with the AF system I experienced, in which it would indicate focus had been locked even though the scene was completely out of focus.

Canon PowerShot SX1 IS photo samples

Generally, photo quality tends to be the weakest aspect of megazooms, but so far the SX1 seems deliver the best for its class. While its colors aren't quite as good as the SX10's--oranges, yellows, reds, and purples are slightly off, though you probably couldn't tell without a side-by-side comparison--it has a better tonal range with less contouring in shadow areas. It has a better noise profile, with lower noise at all ISO levels, and without the blue channel artifacts I noticed in the SX10's photos. However, as with most models at this level, detail becomes visibly degraded at ISO 400 and beyond. It's pretty sharp, but by the numbers it fares worse than the SX10 for sharpness; I attribute this to some visible haloing in the blue channel I saw in the test charts.

The camera retains the separated stereo mics of its ancestors and can zoom--pretty quietly--during recording. And the video quality is quite nice--relatively sharp and saturated, with fast refocusing and exposure adjustment--especially played back on a large TV.

Though it's as big as and priced like a cheap dSLR, the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS delivers similar performance plus a 20x zoom lens and HD video that those can't provide. And while it's relatively expensive for its class and has some interface quirks, as long as you don't need ultra-high-speed burst shooting, it's probably the best megazoom option we've tested thus far.

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Typical shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim)

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon PowerShot SX1 IS

1.4

1.7

0.6

0.4

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1

1.4

0.7

0.4

Canon PowerShot SX10 IS

1.5

2.1

0.8

0.6

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50

2.3

1.8

1.3

0.7

Olympus SP-570 UZ

3.3

2.5

1.8

0.8

Nikon P80

2.9

2.4

1.4

1.1

Typical continuous-shooting speed (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1

10.6

Canon PowerShot SX1 IS

2.9

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50

1.6

Canon PowerShot SX10 IS

1.4

Nikon P80

1.3

Olympus SP-570 UZ

Spammers Can Get Your Email Address from Google Profiles

A word of caution for people who have their email accounts on Gmail and are planning to use a vanity URL for their Google Profile.

Vanity URLs are available across all Google Accounts but you can pick a custom username for your Google Profile (like this) only if your Google Account is not associated with a Gmail address.

google-profile-spam

Gmail users have two choices - they can either continue using the default cryptic URL for their Google Profile (like this) or they can have their Google email username in the Google profile URL.

Now that may sound tempting because a URL like google.com/profiles/google_username is definitely search friendly and more easy to remember than google.com/profiles/121221 but before you jump, here’s a quick warning.

When you add your Gmail user name to the Google Profile, you are indirectly exposing your email address to spammers. They can simply take the username from any Google Profile, append @gmail.com and they have gold in their hands because its you real Gmail address.

All public Google Profiles are indexed in search engines so think twice before turning vanity URLs with your Gmail username. Hat tip Seer.

5 Basic Math Apps for the iPhone and Your Kids

My iPhone has become my kids’ occasional babysitter. Whenever we have to wait longer than 60 seconds, I hear the familiar refrain of “Dad, can I play a game on your phone?”

I don’t always indulge them because they also need to learn the art to waiting patiently, but when I let them play, the game they most often reached for was Race to Everest. It occurred to me that game time could be spent on something more productive than a glorified game of “I Spy”.

So I went over to the iTunes store and picked out what seem to be some of the highest user rated math applications. We played them for a week and here’s what we think about iTunes selection of basic math games:

cutemath Cute Math

With no difficulty settings and very easy problems, this game is the most basic of the bunch. Under the Cute Math umbrella are six mini-games. The first two were basic counting exercises with cutesy sound effects. There are also simple addition and subtraction games. Both have animation to help kids figure out the solutions, but the link and instructions for starting the animation is small and somewhat hidden.

Finally, there are a couple of games that test what the kids have learned in the other games, throwing random addition and subtraction at them. The games are OK, but seem to be targeted at the 4-6 crowd — too simple for our needs.

Wired: Certainly is cute. Kids enjoyed the bright colors and happy sounds.

Tired: Very basic - will be outgrown quickly.

Cute Math (iTunes link), $1.99

Math Magic

Math Magic provides another good looking interface - a simple background is the setting for a straightforward quiz of addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.

Beneath each equation are four possible answers that the user must choose from. When the correct answer is selected, a young child’s voice congratulates the user with one of several exclamations. Get it wrong and the voice gives a word of encouragement and the user tries again until the correct answer is chosen. Don’t know an answer? Shake the phone to move to the next problem.

Wired: Great looking interface, easy to jump between types of problems.

Tired: Preferences are limited and a little confusing. Sound gets very annoying very quickly, but can be turned off. Multiple choice leads to guessing.

Math Magic (iTunes link), $1.99

Number Rumble

We were pretty excited about this one because it’s from Leap Frog and their toys have been very popular in our house for a long time. This game was the only one of the bunch that presented in landscape mode, all the others were normal portrait.

The visuals and sound were great. The game resembled a slot machine - after selecting the operator (+, -, / or *), the user gives the phone a shake and the numbers spin before settling on an equation. The user then turns a third wheel to identify the correct answer.

We wanted to like this, but there were a couple of very quirky things about Number Rumble that prevented us: the interface locks you out from turning the third wheel to select the answer until the sound effect that reads the equation is done … every … single … time, making for a lot of boring delays. Secondly, despite my phone being in silent mode, Number Rumble’s sound still played at top volume. This is the only app I’ve seen that ignores the volume shutoff.

Wired: Best presentation of the bunch - looks and sounds great.

Tired: No customization. The sound effects overrode the phone’s silent mode.

Number Rumble (iTunes link), $2.99

popmath Pop Math Lite - Kids’ Choice

In individual testing, my focus group of three seven-year-olds all picked this game as their favorite. The game features floating bubbles with a mixture of equations and answers written on them. Simply touch an equation & match it with its answer and the bubbles pop. Pop enough bubbles and the screen clears and you level up. The game allows you to select the operator or a mixture of all four basic math functions.

There are no preferences to adjust difficulty or the level where you begin. As a parent, this isn’t my favorite because I’m not a big fan of learning through multiple choice, which often quickly devolves to guessing. While this version is available for free, there is also a full version for $0.99 that includes higher numbers in the equations and more backgrounds.

Wired: Kids’ favorite, looks good.

Tired: No preferences. Multiple choice answers.

Pop Math Lite (iTunes link), free

mathdrills Math Drills Lite - GeekDad’s Favorite

I have to admit that, at first, this game was pretty unappealing to me. It lacked the pretty colors and sounds that the other games had and its calculator-like input was boring compared to the other interfaces. But after spending some time with it, I’m convinced that this is the best basic math app out there. Not only does Math Drills have the deepest ability to customize, allowing specification for types of equations, variety, help, sounds, colors and much, more, but the game also does the best job of teaching math.

Math Drills Lite has both review and practice modes, with the bulk of the teaching coming in review mode. Between the equation and the input, there are a selectable variety of help assistance that help kids comprehend what the equation is asking. From number lines to blocks and facts, there are plenty of ways to visually learn how to solve the math problems … or you can turn them off . And the questions that are missed are brought back up, so kids have the chance to understand what they got wrong and get another shot at understanding.

gkdadapprove_small Math Drills Lite is available at no cost, however there is also a full version for $1.99 that tracks up to 10 different users’ progress, emphasizes problems that history has shown a child struggles with and offers even more customization than the already impressive Lite version.

Wired: The best teacher, the most customization & our choice as the iPhone math app to download.

Tired: Not the prettiest rose.

Math Drills Lite (iTunes link), free

Thursday, April 30, 2009

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